In the field of computing, computing devices store data in memory. A memory consists of an array of data registers at locations referred to by memory addresses. A memory includes one or more natural boundaries that mark the beginnings of data registers. A string of data or a data item that is aligned begins at a natural boundary. A string of data or a data item that is unaligned does not begin at a natural boundary.
A computing device copies data by executing various program instructions to access the data's memory location and copy the data. Some computing devices execute program instructions to access memory by referring to memory addresses at natural boundaries. When these devices copy unaligned data, they can experience difficulties in executing efficient program instructions for copying the data.